SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — The list keeps growing for San Diego businesses shutting their doors.
Detour Salon, with locations in Encinitas and Hillcrest, and Mother’s Saloon in Ocean Beach announced they would not reopen.
“We couldn't secure a lease in COVID times that would work for us,” said Mother’s Saloon co-owner Colin Wickersheim
Mother’s Saloon served cold beers, food, and most recently Alex’s Brown Bag for nearly ten years at 2228 Bacon Street. They were known as a music venue and a sports bar.
“That's a big draw for us, what would we do?” said Wickersheim.
However, it wasn’t just the lack of sports to watch that forced Mother’s to close permanently. Wickersheim said he and his wife Shelby couldn’t secure a lease agreement with the landlord.
“I don’t think landlords understand that you should help out local businesses if they can’t pay high rents,” said Wickersheim.
On Wednesday the Wickersheim’s announced on social media that it would not reopen. He said there has been an outpouring of support for him and his wife and the 22 employees from local businesses and supporters with more than 210 comments on the Facebook post.
“The people and the employees, we had some good times here,” said Wickersheim.
Mother’s is not the latest to shutter.
This month Souplantation restaurants closed and the farm-to-table restaurant Wisknladle in La Jolla also announced on social media it would close permanently.
Other businesses such as Detour Salon with locations in Encinitas and Hillcrest also announced on Wednesday after 22 years in business it would not reopen.
While some businesses are struggling Los Angeles’ popular Dave’s Hot Chicken had a soft opening in Pacific Beach on Wednesday with a grand opening on Friday in a 2,000 square foot space.
“The hottest chicken outside of Nashville's itself,” said co-owner Andrew Feghali.
He and his business partner Lawrence Kourie are from San Diego and plan to open 12 locations across the San Diego area.
The newest celebrity franchise is known for its fast-casual chicken tenders and sliders with seven spices. A spokesperson for Dave’s Hot Chicken P.B. said it believes it can survive since it’s not catered to dine-in rather take-out and third party delivers. It has a tremendous following and right now the dining area is closed.
“Customer experience should be seamless and extremely safe,” said Feghali.
While one door opens and another closes, as one supporter wrote to Mother’s Saloon, “hopefully the comeback is greater than the setback.”
“OB thank you. We’ve had an amazing time me and my wife and the staff, we love you guys thank you,” said Wickersheim.
An estimated 7.5 million small businesses could shutdown nationwide in the next few months. News 8 has posted resources for businesses and employees, click here.